no carb diet

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  • LiZzie1917
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    Agree! Your brain doesn't function without carbs.
  • raystark
    raystark Posts: 403 Member
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    Agree! Your brain doesn't function without carbs.

    Now I know why I am so stupid these days. Thanks. :smile:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Agree! Your brain doesn't function without carbs.

    Actually, while I am not a fan at all of low carb diets, it can. Your body can convert protein into what it needs.
  • raystark
    raystark Posts: 403 Member
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    Agree! Your brain doesn't function without carbs.

    Actually, while I am not a fan at all of low carb diets, it can. Your body can convert protein into what it needs.

    Oh, that's just crazy talk. :wink:
  • TinGirl314
    TinGirl314 Posts: 430 Member
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    People get really hostile about this stuff...is there a secret TV contest that I'm unaware of?

    Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts...
    As with ANY extreme diet (And yes I'm sorry but cutting out carbs completely causes a chemical change in your body so I call it extreme) you should consult your doctor!
    They are the ones with the medical history, and they can help you taylor your diet to your needs.
    For instance I'm a diabetic...so you would think lo/no carbs would be a good thing for me.
    Unfortunately I've also had pancreantitis from high triglycerides.
    If I go on the atkins and fill up on meat with too much saturated fat, my pancreas says 'screw you, I'm going home.'

    If you have no health conditions then hopefully it won't be an issue for you. :)

    It worries me when people come on message boards and ask this kind of question because we don't know if you have a liver problem that limits how much protein you can eat, or if you have diabetes, or a heart condition that can get thrown out of whack because you ate too many canned vegetables.

    Whatever you choose, do it safely, and inform yourself so you have minimal complications when the work pays off. :)
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
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    This argument will never be won on either side, and MFP is always hostile to low carbers, but I still come here a lot, because damn it, I love you all in a very disfucntional family kind of way.

    Taking off the infini-quotes:

    I find this ironic considering the voracity of your responses!

    Any voractiy is due to conditioning after a year of giving people solid well thought out advice on the topic, only to have people that have no interest in low carb come into the threads and s**t on everyone.

    It really does not help when you call people who do decide that low/no carb is not for them 'weak willed' in your first (or maybe it was your second) post. I do not do it because I do not see the point. You do it because you do.

    Yet generally my point stands. YOU may have decided that it doesn't make sense to you, but there are many, many people that come to these forums, or have come to me in real life and said "I've literally tried everything to loose weight and can't! You've been able to and look healthy and are gaining muscle in the gym, what should I do?!"

    Soon as you mention cutting some carbs they immediately (9 times in 10) "Oh, I don't know, I couldn't give up my bread/pasta/cookies/ice cream/<insert over processed carb laden food here>!" Weak. They'd rather stay fat and eat these foods...and I know a few of them personally that have continued to beat their heads into the wall doing these same types of things, not loosing or even gaining weight...but even TRYING to cut carbs is so crazy they won't give it a shot. Most of them would try a raw vegan diet before just laying off the bread....which to me seems WAY more of a departure from "normal" eating than cutting carbs.....*SIGH*.

    *Sigh* is right. You have decided to encompass everyone who decides eating carbs works for than in a sweeping statement of being weak willed. Some people may be, but IMO it is not exactly appropriate to apply that to everyone as you have been doing. I chose to give up meat for personal reasons - I loved the taste but I have not eaten it for about 23 years, which to me indicates being pretty string willed when it comes to food. But apparently because I choose not to give up carbs because I do not feel it is necessary, you are effectively calling me weak willed. I honestly scratch my head at that logic.

    Wow, you really have a hard time reading what people are saying apparently....

    What I am saying is that most of the time those that continue to fail at conventional diets, or whatever, are so tied to their carb laden franken foods that they won't even entertain the idea of giving them up, even if that means better health, weight loss, etc without them.

    Ok, so I've read this whole thread. I guess my curiosity got me. But seriously, dude. What is so wrong with having a cookie once in a while? If it fits into your carbs and macros for the day then what is the problem? And where do you get off passing judgement on others just because they either choose not to listen to you or disagree with you? Weak willed? I think people who were probably overweight, maybe binge eaters and have lost weight successfully are pretty damn strong willed for only having ONE cookie. Even admitting you have a problem and doing something about it is strong. Yeah, there are people who complain about being unhealthy who don't do anything about it but why is it your problem? It's their life and they can do what they want with it. I try to eat low carb but I did have a cookie today and it tasted amazing! Triple chocolate chip mmm mmm gooood. I just don't do it every day. Or even every week. Once in a while is not the end of the world. Just let people live however they wanna live.
  • sunshine_gem
    sunshine_gem Posts: 390 Member
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    People get really hostile about this stuff...is there a secret TV contest that I'm unaware of?

    Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts...
    As with ANY extreme diet (And yes I'm sorry but cutting out carbs completely causes a chemical change in your body so I call it extreme) you should consult your doctor!
    They are the ones with the medical history, and they can help you taylor your diet to your needs.
    For instance I'm a diabetic...so you would think lo/no carbs would be a good thing for me.
    Unfortunately I've also had pancreantitis from high triglycerides.
    If I go on the atkins and fill up on meat with too much saturated fat, my pancreas says 'screw you, I'm going home.'

    If you have no health conditions then hopefully it won't be an issue for you. :)

    It worries me when people come on message boards and ask this kind of question because we don't know if you have a liver problem that limits how much protein you can eat, or if you have diabetes, or a heart condition that can get thrown out of whack because you ate too many canned vegetables.

    Whatever you choose, do it safely, and inform yourself so you have minimal complications when the work pays off. :)

    To the OP: ^^^^THIS is the best advice you could have been given!
  • desertdutchman
    desertdutchman Posts: 14 Member
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    Read this book: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
    Written by Gary Taubes

    It's the best explanation of low (not no-) carb eating. I've been eating less than 50g of carbs a day for 16 months and have lost 35 lbs. My energy level is way up. It's the best thing I've ever done.

    Oh, and at my recent medical checkup my cholesterol levels were excellent. My doctor said, "Whatever you're doing, keep it up."
  • raystark
    raystark Posts: 403 Member
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    People get really hostile about this stuff...is there a secret TV contest that I'm unaware of?

    Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts...
    As with ANY extreme diet (And yes I'm sorry but cutting out carbs completely causes a chemical change in your body so I call it extreme) you should consult your doctor!
    They are the ones with the medical history, and they can help you taylor your diet to your needs.
    For instance I'm a diabetic...so you would think lo/no carbs would be a good thing for me.
    Unfortunately I've also had pancreantitis from high triglycerides.
    If I go on the atkins and fill up on meat with too much saturated fat, my pancreas says 'screw you, I'm going home.'

    If you have no health conditions then hopefully it won't be an issue for you. :)

    It worries me when people come on message boards and ask this kind of question because we don't know if you have a liver problem that limits how much protein you can eat, or if you have diabetes, or a heart condition that can get thrown out of whack because you ate too many canned vegetables.

    Whatever you choose, do it safely, and inform yourself so you have minimal complications when the work pays off. :)

    Very nicely put.
  • jld1675
    jld1675 Posts: 14 Member
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    I had no idea people got this defensive about the weight-loss program that works for THEM!!!
  • raystark
    raystark Posts: 403 Member
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    I had no idea people got this defensive about the weight-loss program that works for THEM!!!


    Yup. Some peeps do.
  • madlibscholar
    madlibscholar Posts: 30 Member
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    This topic seems to fuel such anger and misinformation...everybody obviously has their own opinion, experience or research to add here, but the simple truth is that no diet seems superior; some people lose weight just by cutting down portion sizes, some people limit a particular food group, some people just up their exercise and eat what they want. Fair enough. Obviously, there are a variety of strategies that work for weight loss, so I don't understand the condemnation of anyone's personal dietary choices.

    I don't like most carb based foods: I HATE any kind of bread with a passion, not a fan of cereals, pasta or oatmeal. I find it all a bit fake tasting and it takes away from the taste of perfectly good food. So, most of my carbs do come from fruit and vegetable based sources. If I was told I had to eat any of the above in order to be healthier, etc...I'd struggle terribly with that. Why should anyone be forced to eat what they don't like, or, alternatively, give up what they do like? There is nothing weak willed about enjoying a certain food. It's all about the attitude...if you can eat one cookie and enjoy it, as part of an overall healthy lifestyle, what's the big deal?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    People get really hostile about this stuff...is there a secret TV contest that I'm unaware of?

    Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts...
    As with ANY extreme diet (And yes I'm sorry but cutting out carbs completely causes a chemical change in your body so I call it extreme) you should consult your doctor!
    They are the ones with the medical history, and they can help you taylor your diet to your needs.
    For instance I'm a diabetic...so you would think lo/no carbs would be a good thing for me.
    Unfortunately I've also had pancreantitis from high triglycerides.
    If I go on the atkins and fill up on meat with too much saturated fat, my pancreas says 'screw you, I'm going home.'

    If you have no health conditions then hopefully it won't be an issue for you. :)

    It worries me when people come on message boards and ask this kind of question because we don't know if you have a liver problem that limits how much protein you can eat, or if you have diabetes, or a heart condition that can get thrown out of whack because you ate too many canned vegetables.

    Whatever you choose, do it safely, and inform yourself so you have minimal complications when the work pays off. :)

    I think this is a good post except for this one sentence:

    "Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts..."

    What evidence is there that no carb diets work well for anyone? There are so few people eating a no carb diet and even less research on them, especially more than very short term.

    No carb and low carb are a world apart. Cutting out all grains, fruits and vegetables is unlikely to be healthy for anyone except possibly someone wth an extreme medical condition.
  • AskSanAnything
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    I have been "low" carbing it for years and yep, I've lost a TON of weight.

    And gained it all back and then some.

    I am still not a big fan of carbs these days but do know that some are very important for balance. If you want to do a low carb menu, stick with chicken/fish/turkey and SOME red meat; add in veggies (all the greens you could possibly eat), but don't forget about fruits, which have carbs but those carbs aren't BAD carbs...

    I also eat rice and sweet potatoes, tend to stay away from wheat as a rule (working toward gluten-free for my significant other who has a condition that warrants it), and do enjoy sweets now and then. If you go NO or LOW and don't balance, the minute you eat one lil carb, your body says WHOA and you'll be hatin' the scale.

    There are so many "diets" out there, but you really have to find what works best for you. Cutting out a WHOLE group of foods will not benefit you in the long run.

    Apologies if all the above was covered in other responses; I admit to only reading the first two and then the last page of posts. Good luck to EVERYONE in their weight loss journey :)

    Cheers!
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
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    People get really hostile about this stuff...is there a secret TV contest that I'm unaware of?

    Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts...
    As with ANY extreme diet (And yes I'm sorry but cutting out carbs completely causes a chemical change in your body so I call it extreme) you should consult your doctor!
    They are the ones with the medical history, and they can help you taylor your diet to your needs.
    For instance I'm a diabetic...so you would think lo/no carbs would be a good thing for me.
    Unfortunately I've also had pancreantitis from high triglycerides.
    If I go on the atkins and fill up on meat with too much saturated fat, my pancreas says 'screw you, I'm going home.'

    If you have no health conditions then hopefully it won't be an issue for you. :)

    It worries me when people come on message boards and ask this kind of question because we don't know if you have a liver problem that limits how much protein you can eat, or if you have diabetes, or a heart condition that can get thrown out of whack because you ate too many canned vegetables.

    Whatever you choose, do it safely, and inform yourself so you have minimal complications when the work pays off. :)

    I think this is a good post except for this one sentence:

    "Nocarb/Locarb diets work very well for some people, for other people you get the 'no carb flu' and feel like dirt until your body adjusts..."

    What evidence is there that no carb diets work well for anyone? There are so few people eating a no carb diet and even less research on them, especially more than very short term.

    No carb and low carb are a world apart. Cutting out all grains, fruits and vegetables is unlikely to be healthy for anyone except possibly someone wth an extreme medical condition.

    There has been quite a bit of research on the topic, dating as far back as 1926 in America. the Journal of the American Medical Association did a study on Vilhjalmur Stefansson in the early 20th century, under much skeptisism, that he and a partner could eat a largely traditional Inuit diet of only meat, fish and fat for an entire year and come out of the experiment just fine.

    Of course, just like today, there were naysayers that surmized that they'd be totally messed up from the diet, but upon examination they were as healthy as anyone else under examination. They did this closely supervised in a lab setting and then with observers that were with them. They completed this without the need for vitamin supplementation at all.
  • Marll
    Marll Posts: 904 Member
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    Ok, so I've read this whole thread. I guess my curiosity got me. But seriously, dude. What is so wrong with having a cookie once in a while? If it fits into your carbs and macros for the day then what is the problem? And where do you get off passing judgement on others just because they either choose not to listen to you or disagree with you? Weak willed? I think people who were probably overweight, maybe binge eaters and have lost weight successfully are pretty damn strong willed for only having ONE cookie. Even admitting you have a problem and doing something about it is strong. Yeah, there are people who complain about being unhealthy who don't do anything about it but why is it your problem? It's their life and they can do what they want with it. I try to eat low carb but I did have a cookie today and it tasted amazing! Triple chocolate chip mmm mmm gooood. I just don't do it every day. Or even every week. Once in a while is not the end of the world. Just let people live however they wanna live.

    Again, I don't give a tiny rat's behind if someone is eating cookies, go right ahead, whatever. What I take issue with is the following:

    1. People immediately come into low carb threads to bash on it and those that are attempting to give advice. Advice that comes from people that have ACTUALLY tried the way of eating described and MIGHT possibly have some insight that others that either refuse to try or have no experience with won't. This is a very common occurance on MFP.

    2. People that have tried everything else and failed, but are unwilling to even THINK about giving up their beloved grain based carbs. Again, either you are insane (doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result IS the definition of insanity by the way) or incredibly weak willed.

    I have a friend and co-worker that has been trying to loose weight for years. The only luck he's had is with low carb, and even then he falls off the wagon about 1-2x a month because he can't keep his love of baked goods, chocolate or sugar in check. He has very low willpower to resist, but he gets right back on that horse and keeps trying, so I commend him. Those that won't even try something new when everything else fails are weak.

    If you are loosing weight other ways, great for you! That's awesome, there's more than one way to skin a cat (though certainly more efficient ways than others) but again, if it's not working, and all you can do is whine and moan, but won't try another approach that's either addiction, insanity or weak will, two of which are related to each other IMO.
  • HurricaneElaine
    HurricaneElaine Posts: 984 Member
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    When I moved out of my parents' house at age 19, I started eating the Atkins way, the latest craze (this is 1979 we're talking about). I ate all the meat I wanted (I'm a carnivore at heart) and ate only non-starchy vegetables. Very little fruit. Plenty of macadamia nuts, YUM!! In a year and a half, I went from 220 pounds to 130. Gained my first real boyfriend too. He made the biggest mistake - told me the WORST thing a man can tell you. "I love you, no matter what you look like." He was Italian/Irish, and loved his pasta and potatoes, so I cooked that for him, and started eating it again. Six months later, I was 50 pounds heavier. Long story short, it works, it's a total lifestyle change, and you have to stick to it faithfully or the pounds will all come back, and then some.

    Good luck! :wink:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Ok, so I've read this whole thread. I guess my curiosity got me. But seriously, dude. What is so wrong with having a cookie once in a while? If it fits into your carbs and macros for the day then what is the problem? And where do you get off passing judgement on others just because they either choose not to listen to you or disagree with you? Weak willed? I think people who were probably overweight, maybe binge eaters and have lost weight successfully are pretty damn strong willed for only having ONE cookie. Even admitting you have a problem and doing something about it is strong. Yeah, there are people who complain about being unhealthy who don't do anything about it but why is it your problem? It's their life and they can do what they want with it. I try to eat low carb but I did have a cookie today and it tasted amazing! Triple chocolate chip mmm mmm gooood. I just don't do it every day. Or even every week. Once in a while is not the end of the world. Just let people live however they wanna live.

    Again, I don't give a tiny rat's behind if someone is eating cookies, go right ahead, whatever. What I take issue with is the following:

    1. People immediately come into low carb threads to bash on it and those that are attempting to give advice. Advice that comes from people that have ACTUALLY tried the way of eating described and MIGHT possibly have some insight that others that either refuse to try or have no experience with won't. This is a very common occurance on MFP.

    2. People that have tried everything else and failed, but are unwilling to even THINK about giving up their beloved grain based carbs. Again, either you are insane (doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result IS the definition of insanity by the way) or incredibly weak willed.

    I have a friend and co-worker that has been trying to loose weight for years. The only luck he's had is with low carb, and even then he falls off the wagon about 1-2x a month because he can't keep his love of baked goods, chocolate or sugar in check. He has very low willpower to resist, but he gets right back on that horse and keeps trying, so I commend him. Those that won't even try something new when everything else fails are weak.

    If you are loosing weight other ways, great for you! That's awesome, there's more than one way to skin a cat (though certainly more efficient ways than others) but again, if it's not working, and all you can do is whine and moan, but won't try another approach that's either addiction, insanity or weak will, two of which are related to each other IMO.

    1. This is not a low carb thread. The OP asked about a no carb diet. Very few people have experience with that.

    2. To eat no carb one would have to give up grains, vegetables and fruit. To eat low carb, one does not have to give up any of those three.

    What you describe with your co-worker doesn't sound like it has anything to do with grains. Cake and baked goods are not the only grains available. Eating whole grains as part of a healthy diet is not weakness, it's common sense.
  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
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    no meat doesnt have carbs.

    I went low carb, like under 20 g a day and I lost about 10 lbs in 7 days and continued losing as I slowly upped my carb intake to around 60-80 g.

    I like it and would definitely recommend it. Good luck!

    Actually all meat (muscle and offal) have some level of carbs. The reason that muscle meat is considered 0 carb is due to the miniscule amounts of carbs, although this is highly dependent on the amount of glycogen that was stored in the muscle at th time of slaughter.

    There is nothing that is 100% zero carb.
  • raystark
    raystark Posts: 403 Member
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    no meat doesnt have carbs.

    I went low carb, like under 20 g a day and I lost about 10 lbs in 7 days and continued losing as I slowly upped my carb intake to around 60-80 g.

    I like it and would definitely recommend it. Good luck!

    Actually all meat (muscle and offal) have some level of carbs. The reason that muscle meat is considered 0 carb is due to the miniscule amounts of carbs, although this is highly dependent on the amount of glycogen that was stored in the muscle at th time of slaughter.

    There is nothing that is 100% zero carb.

    Thank you, Captain Obvious. :smile: